Umbrella notch-piece.



PATENTED JAN. 27, 1903;

C. H. SCHAEFFER. UMBRELLA NOTCH PIEGE.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 5, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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CHARLES H. SCIIAEFFER, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALFTO GEORGE ECKERT, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA.

UMBRELLA NOTCH-PIECE.

SPEOIFIGAEION forming part of Letters Patent No. 719,144, dated January27, 1903. Application filed June 5,1902. Seria1N0-1l0,294. N model.)

To to whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. SCHAEF- FER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Reading, in the county of Berks and State 5 ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inUmbrella Notch- Pieces; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates in general to the construction of umbrellas, butmore especially to the construction of the part known as the i5notch-piece or runner; and the object of the same is to construct adevice which will be applicable to umbrella and parasol frames and inwhich the ends of the ribs ordinarily used in umbrellas will be heldtherein independzo ently of each other by means of ball-andsocketjoints. I-Ieretofore in umbrellas of this type the construction of thenotch piece or runner has proved objectionable, because in order toinsert or remove a rib after the notchpiece or runner has been securedto the stick the rib must be twisted or turned to permit of suchinsertion or removal,or else the prongs or fingers must be bent andstraightened. In the former case the twisting of the rib is renderedimpossible by the stretcher, and in the latterinstance the constantstraightening and bending of the fingers or prongs eventually breaksthem off, and this effects two of the ribs and allows them to drop outof position.

The object of my invention is to overcome all of these objections, andto this end I have constructed a rigid single-piece construction inwhich the ribs can be inserted and removed and also operatedindependently of all the 0 other ribs without the slightest twistingmovement of the ribs.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figurel is a plan view of mydevice. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same. Fig.

4 5 3 is a detail view on one of the ribs, showing the end with a ballor enlargement.

The body Act the notch-piece or runner is of a rigid and single-piececonstruction, circular in form, and is adapted to slip onto the umbrellastick or rod. It is formed with the solid body portion A, and around theoutside portion of the edge which engages the ribs are a series of rigidteeth or projections a, which are independent of each other for theirentire length and which taper from their base toward their outerextremities. These projections are bent on a curve from their base, eX-tending first upward and then inward, and terminate at points about theline of the central opening a, through which the stick passes. It is tobe understood that the notchpiece at the top of the stick has theprojections at its base just the reverse of the runner, which latter Ionly have illustrated. These projections are also so arranged as to forma radiating recess b, which is quite narrow at the ends, and saidprojections are each somewhat reduced in diameter near their base, orthe point where they join the body portion, so that the adjacent edgesof each 7: pair of projections form between them an enlarged andapproximately cylindrical opening at the points I), as clearly seen inFig. 2 of the drawings,which terminates in a narrow opening near thetop.

The ribs 0 are formed with balls or enlargements 0 on their ends, andthese balls are slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter of theenlarged openings 1) at the base of the recesses Z), but are somewhatlarger than their inner openings. This is due to the peculiar shape ofthe adjacent faces of said teeth or projections. The ribs are secured tothe runner or notch piece after the latter has been secured to the stickby inserting their heads in the enlargements b and then moving towardthe center -that is, toward each otherthereby causing said heads to passunder the projections, while the ribs proper will pass through thereduced openings near the center. 0 After their outer ends have beensecured to the cover in the usual manner they will not be able to returnto the position at which they entered the retainer, though they will befree to move easily therein while opening and closing the umbrella.

It will be seen that after the ribs are in position in the notch-pieceor runner there is no possibility of any of the ribs becomingdisengaged; but should one or more of them become so disengaged it willnot affect the other ribs, and any rib may be readily detached by simplyforcing the head thereof toward the base of the projections until itcomes opposite the enlarged openings 1).

When the umbrella is opened, the heads of the ribs are pressed againstthe stick, which prevents them from dropping out. With the notch-pieceat the upper end of the stick it is to be understood that although theprojections are just the reverse ofthe runner, still they are of thesame construction.

When the runner is drawn down to close the umbrella, the strain of theribs will keep them all seated at the inner extremities of theprojections or reduced portions, so that the heads will always bebeneath the narrow openings between the projections.

Having thus fully described my invention,

' What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described article of manufacture consisting of a onepiececonstruction, com prising a body portion provided with a centralopening, a'plurality of integral and rigid projections, independent ofeach other for their entire length arranged around the outer portion ofone edge, said projections being tapered from their base toward theirfree extremities and extended from one edge of and away from the body,and curved inward toward the central opening, the extremity of eachprojection terminating in a line with the central opening, the edges ofeach projection being cut away at their base so that the adjacent edgesat the reduced parts form enlarged openings which communicate with thenarrow openings formed by the taper of the projections at their freeextremities.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. SCHAEFFER.

WVituesses:

E1). A. KELLY, GEO. M. MILLER.

